Daniel De Montmollin

July 6 - September 5, 2013

Daniel de Montmollin - Exhibition at the Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste in 2013

Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste welcomes Daniel de Montmollin, founding brother of the Taizé Community (Saône-et-Loire) and a leading figure in contemporary ceramics, whose research into enamel and his writings are a major reference for ceramists of all generations. At over 90, Daniel de Montmollin continues and renews his work with enthusiasm and determination.
each of his exhibitions is an event in the world of ceramics.
Following an exhibition at the Fondation Baur in Geneva in 2011, in 2013 he chose the Galerie de l'Ancienne Poste as the venue for his only exhibition in France of his most recent works. These once again bear witness to the ceramist's talent for experimentation. Thus, after several decades devoted to research into plant ash enamels, Daniel de Montmollin presents us with the fruit of a new approach: his latest creations on chamotte clay, presented to the public for the first time, are hymns to the mineral resources revealed by his Burgundian terroir.

This tiny word has survived the entire history of mankind without breaking. It has never ceased to take on all shapes and forms, adapting to all uses, from the most everyday to the most festive, ordinary or refined, profane or sacred.
In the craftsman's workshop, before embarking on its journey around the world, it appears at the end of a long process. Whether born of the spontaneity of a gesture or of slow elaboration, it sums up a body of knowledge acquired through the patience of multiple experiments. Like a musician, the potter has not escaped the asceticism of scales. Finally, he had to let the fire have the last word, that brutal passage from project to object!
As a vehicle for relationships, the vase combines know-how with the art of being present to things and to others. VASE, WAY...
Beyond its function, the vase has a language of its own, that of its creator's imagination, a poetic accompaniment. As if at rest, it gives voice to a melody that "musicalizes" the relationship.
VASE, WAY, MEGAPHONE!
Brother Daniel.